The Asthmapolis system uses a Bluetooth link to transmit data that can be displayed to show where and when a patient used an inhaler.

Written by

Christine MacDonald
| Special to The Washington Post

Epidemiologist David Van Sickle spent years studying asthma, but like many researchers of the chronic disease, he was frustrated by the obstacles to determining precise triggers of an individual attack. That frustration gave him an idea for a rescue inhaler topped with a GPS sensor. The invention would map the user's location every time he took a puff and send that information back to his doctor.

Such a device, Van Sickle thought, would give doctors data about when and where attacks occurred, helping them figure out possible environmental causes and allowing them to plan treatment ...